The pound or lira (Hebrew: לירה ישראלית Lira Yisra'elit, Arabic: جنيه إسرائيلي Junayh ʾIsrāʾīlī; abbreviation: IL[1] in Latin, ל"י in Hebrew; code ILP) was the currency of the State of Israel from 9 June 1952 until 23 February 1980.

Before the new currency was brought in, the Anglo-Palestine Bank issued banknotes denominated in Palestine pounds.

The Mandate came to an end on 14 May 1948, but the Palestine pound continued in circulation until new currencies replaced it.

In August 1948, new banknotes were issued by the London-based Anglo-Palestine Bank, owned by the Jewish Agency.

The peg to sterling was abolished on 1 January 1954, and in 1960, the subdivision of the pound was changed from 1,000 prutot to 100 agorot (singular agora, Hebrew: אגורה ,אגורות).

Because lira (Hebrew: לִירָה) was a loanword from Latin, a debate emerged in the 1960s over the name of the Israeli currency due to its non-Hebrew origins.

Israel's first coins were aluminium 25 mil pieces, dated 1948 and 1949, which were issued in 1949 before the adoption of the pruta.

The coins were conceived, in part, by Israeli graphic designer Otte Wallish.